“Income-to-poverty ratios represent the ratio of family or unrelated individual income to their appropriate poverty threshold. Ratios below 1.00 indicate that the income for the respective family or unrelated individual is below the official definition of poverty, while a ratio of 1.00 or greater indicates income above the poverty level. A ratio of 1.25, for example, indicates that income was 125 percent above the appropriate poverty threshold” (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004).
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division,Fertility & Family Statistics Branch. (2004). Current Population Survey: Definitions and explanations. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/population/www/cps/cpsdef.html